V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Confession time: This has not been my best week for running. After a few days of dealing with a fever and a nasty cough with Paige, my 3-year-old, I decided on Monday to take her to the doctor. After swabs, chest x-rays, and bloodwork... yep, the poor little thing had pneumonia. So it was time to lock the doors, stay home (except for carting the big kids to and from school), and get the baby better! What this means, is that coming off a tanked run - de-motivator #1, I was now locked in my house going stir-crazy - de-motivator #2, and the only option I had at all was the home treadmill - de-motivator #3 (I will take the gym treadmill over the home one any day because of the added distractions at the gym).

Monday... I did nothing. I figured I earned my day off, so I took it. Tuesday, I was supposed to run 9. Well I procrastinated and procrastinated until I literally only had time for 3.5. Although I was proud of myself for doing something with the very little time I had. Wednesday, I was supposed to only get in 3, but again, I procrastinated, and since I didn't start until late, and knowing I was supposed to run a lot on Thursday... I didn't even do that - I just walked 2. So basically - fail Monday, fail Tuesday, fail Wednesday. I just had no desire to run. I get like that when I'm locked up at home.

Soooooooo... that brings us to today. Still locked in the house, and I had so conveniently written in "20" on my schedule. Yes, on a Thursday... because I have a 15k on Saturday, and while I have no delusions of granduer coming off a 20-miler, I wanted to be able to push a little and maybe PR (please don't tank 2 weeks in a row, Lesley).

Anyhow, back to the 20-miler. Only option I had was the home treadmill. And I'm slow, so I needed almost 4 hours. How would I do that with Paige home? If I did it before the kids got up, I'd have to start at 2:30am. If I did it after the kids went to bed at 8pm, it would take me until almost midnight. Neither of those would work... so I had to do it during the normal daylight hours - BUT I still have a 3-year-old to maintain... and 2 other kids to cart to and from school. I really didn't know how I was going to work it until today, but I knew that no matter what, it would probably involve a break or two.

I got Paige's lunch made and into the fridge, put on "The Incredibles" in my bedroom (where the tread is) for Paige, put "Rudy" into my smaller TV facing the treadmill, and around 10am, I started my quest. Thankfully, Paige was very low maintenance and into the movie, a pleasure I'm not always afforded. I plodded along at a slower-than-usual, but steady pace. At 5 miles, I took quick break #1.

Break #1 - Pause "Rudy", hop off treadmill, gulp some Gatorade, pull Paige's lunch out of the fridge for her, grab a towel to wipe the sweat, potty, and back on. No more than 3-5 minutes. Not bad.

Back on and going... for round 2. Pretty much went exactly the same. I kept the exact same pace the entire time, and at 5 miles, I paused for quick break #2.

Break #2 - Take "Rudy" out and insert "Chariots of Fire", refill water, take Paige to potty, and lie her down for a nap. Again, no more than 3-5 minutes. Obviously not optimal for a 20-miler, but I sincerely had no better way to get it done.

And on again. This time Paige was asleep, so I figured I could push out the entire 10 uninterrupted... yeah, close, but not quite. At mile 16, I could feel my back turning into a nasty bloody mess. Why o' why do I forget anti-chafe cream when I'm on the tread? I never forget it when I go for a run over 8 miles outdoors, but for some reason, since it was the home tread, I just hopped on... and my back was bad where the sports bra rubbed it (it's such a bad spot for chafing for me, that I literally have scars on my back).

So Break #3 - I hopped off for less than 60 seconds and coated my back and thighs with anti-chafe cream. It was too late for my back, but I didn't want it any worse.

The last 4 miles. My previous longest tread distance was 16 (which I did when my friend, Elaine, had to do her 20-miler at the gym due to a nasty ice storm), so I was there... and 4 miles to go. Miles 17 and 18 honestly weren't that bad. I was still at the exact same pace I started at, and I was feeling good. But for some reason, the second that treadmill registered 18.00, my whole body started to hurt... Ouch, my glute! Ooooo, my hamstring is tender! Is that my knee hurting? I think I'm losing a toenail. Ugh, my back is chafing more. Is that my IT band tingling? I think my whole body was in shut down mode, and my stomach was churning (I think, actually, from overhydration - cause I was chugging fluids like a lunatic, the entire time). That 2 miles took forever... it was a death march... but again, I kept that same pace I had since the very first mile.

20 miles D-O-N-E. Finally, a day this week where I did what I had to do to get in the day's miles. Back on track! Woo-hoo. Treadmill is an interesting thing... besides the obvious reasons people dislike the treadmill, it was interesting to run a long run at the exact same pace the entire way through... not speeding up when I felt good, and not slowing down when I started to hurt. I probably could've cranked the pace up a little. I had it about 30 seconds slower than my normal long run pace because the mileage was more important to me today, and I didn't want to lower my odds of keeping my mind and my body moving for all 20 miles.